Effective handling of complaints

Complaints are an important way for the management of an agency to be accountable to the public, as well as providing valuable prompts to review agency performance and the conduct of people that work within and for it.

A complaint is an “expression of dissatisfaction made to or about an organisation, related to its products, services, staff or the handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required” (as defined by the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 10002:2014, Guidelines for complaint management in origanizations (as amended)).

An effective complaint handling system provides three key benefits to agencies:

It resolves issues raised by a dissatisfied person in a timely and cost-effective way.

It provides information which can lead to improvements in service delivery.

Where complaints are handled properly, a good system can improve the reputation of an agency and strengthen public confidence in an agency’s administrative processes.

The public wants:

a user friendly complaints system

to be heard and understood

to be respected

an explanation

an apology

actions as soon as possible

The agency needs:

a user friendly system for accepting feedback

clear delegations & procedures for staff to deal with complaints and provide remedies

Complaint handling systems checklist
Organisations can use this checklist in conjunction with the Ombudsman’s guidelines for Effective Handling of Complaints made to your Organisation to assess their complaint handling system against the key features required for an effective system.

Conducting administrative investigations
These guidelines offer guidance to help Government agencies conduct administrative investigations. They are designed to contribute to fairness, integrity and good public administration.

Remedies and redress
These guidelines provide a framework to help managers make decisions about addressing a complainant’s sense of grievance when they are dissatisfied with the service they have received from the agency.

Procedural fairness (natural justice)
These guidelines give more detail on what it means to apply the rules of procedural fairness while conducting an administrative investigation.

Agencies requiring further assistance in the development of effective complaint handling systems and how to respond effectively to complaints should contact the Ombudsman’s office on (08) 9220 7555 or 1800 117 000 (toll free for country callers).